Thames Tideway green bonds win top marks in environmental assessment

Green bonds issues by the finance arm of Thames Tideway Tunnel company owner Bazalgette Tunnel, have picked up top ratings under a green evaluation by ratings agency Standard & Poor's.

Bazalgette Finance has issued £175m of index-linked green bonds to fund its project to design, build, commission, and maintain the Thames Tideway Tunnel. The financing achieved a green evaluation score of E1/95 (where E1/100 was the highest score) from S&P Global Ratings.

S&P's green evaluation included the environmental benefits from adding fresh water to the Thames from wastewater treatment and well as carbon savings from meeting 40% of the project’s power demand from methane recovery.

The green benefits beyond the scope of the S&P evaluation included reduced water pollution.

Two £50m retail price index linked tranches will be placed with Aviva Life & Pensions UK to mature in 2049. The rest will be consumer price index-linked and placed with a different, as yet unnamed, investor to mature in 2052.

The bonds will be issued under Bazalgette’s £10bn multi-currency bonds programme established in May last year.

S&P's green evaluation included the environmental benefits from adding fresh water to the Thames from wastewater treatment and well as carbon savings from meeting 40% of the project’s power demand from methane recovery.

The green benefits beyond the scope of the S&P evaluation included reduced water pollution.